lionsden

I'm saying one of the reason the gap was narrow last season was because of injuries to key players and their captain having a subpar season (And it's very unlikely that lightening will strike twice again) They were much better than us last season overall both on paper and on the field. Fabregas, Costa and Luis are not enough to bridge the gap.

More like a shit no 8. Even top class CM are required to have standout qualities other than solid tactical nous. Let's just call a spade a spade and admit He's overrated and doesn't possess the ability to ever become world class in any position. How many top class midfielder or AM were as limited as Oscar at 22?. Stats hit the nail right on the head with a sledge hammer. he doesn't excel at any particular aspect of the game from a technical standpoint, He isn't a great passer, can't dribble, lacks close control and bad in tight spaces, awful vision etc even physically he is weak and has average stamina. which is why when people say "he's got the potential to be so, so and so" I'm always baffled because I can't see this "potential" they speak of. They must be pulling that word out of their asses. Fabregas is a brilliant example actually, he's not the most complete midfielder by any means and has obvious weaknesses but despite his limitations what makes him a top class player is his extraordinary vision and passing. Oscar on the otherhand has nothing that will make him stand out from the pool of other average midfielders in Europe.

He knows we are still , even with the potential signing of Costa,Luis and Fabregas, below Man city in terms of quality. when people say things like "things will make Chelsea title favourites for next season now" I can't help but just laugh hysterically. If Mancity buys one or two top quality defenders it wouldn't even be up for debate at all. It's their rather shaky defence owing to Kompany's decline and Nastasic injury record and Aguero's injury problems that makes the gap look closer than it should be in reality. Toure,Silva,Fernandinho,Aguero,Zabaletta, Nasri and kompany (when on form, he's one of best defenders in Europe) are as good as it gets in terms of starting 11 quality goes and they still have players like Dzeko,Negredo,Sagna,Milner on the bench. I still have city down as fabourites for next season and barring another injury ravaged season for aguero, Kompany having another subpar season and Yaya Toure possibly leaving or causing dressing room unrest, they should walk the league. However football isn't played on paper and that's why we have a chance to win the league next season.

If he has another disappointing season YET AGAIN, next season, he should either be relegated to a squad player, sent out on loan or sold. He's done absolutely nothing and no where near good enough to earn preferential treatment.

The downside to all of this is he will remain at lfc and make them title contenders again as no club will want to buy him now

Regardless Monaco have no reason to sell anyway.

I agree with everything except the bolded part. Alexis sanchez for one has performed better than Neymar

Ideally . . . . .. Cech Azpi Cahill JT New LB Matic New CM Willian Fabregas Hazard New Striker But as things stands it's Cech Ivanovic Cahill JT Azpi Matic Fabregas Willian Hazard Schurrle Lukaku

Greece Lb Holebas as impressed me thoroughly in this tournament. he would be a cheaper alternative to Luis for sure and they are both around the same age anyway.

He should audition for a role on True blood

I will have 5 years of reliability, top professionalism, great leadership on and off the pitch and an extra topping of amazing personality please.

Based on what? The hype machine? Newer and younger is better bandwagoners?. I base my opinion on what I have seen from both Keepers and Cech is the superior GK. I prefer to go off visual evidence rather than statistics and hype machine. For one, Cech is a superior ball handler and shot stopper (He actually catches or parries shots out of danger zone unlike Thibaut) He has superior reflexes, superior anticipation and awareness (This one along with ball handling are not even debatable in my opinion) , better judgement. The only areas where Courtois edges Cech are agility (he's younger which makes it only normal), dealing with corners and distribution which isn't much of an achievement as Cech has one of the worst ball distribution of any goalkeeper ever. Everything else Cech has him beat easily and it's also worth noting that despite our solid defence the Czech still gets tested far far more often and he's usually very reliable. I don't need misleading statistics to tell me these things and those are just the tangibles.

This and absolutely this.

So his performances for atleti (which is very overrated btw) should justify Chelsea media and fans in general sucking up to him, people disrespecting a club legend in Cech and the constant moaning and yapping to the press?. smh and there I was thinking only players who have made significant contributions to the club deserves such preferential treatment.

Chelsea media aren't the only ones sucking up to him either and he hasn't even made a single appearance for us yet. pathetic.

average for 85 mins apart from 2 or 3 good runs and the one that led to the goal.

The disrespect of a club legend still on top of his game and the eagerness to crown thibaut as the number one is ridiculous. Cech has and still is a superior goalkeeper to courtois and if he becomes 2nd choice next season it will likely be for political reasons i.e a bid to secure long term future in that position rather than on merit. Either way that number one spot has to be earned and I could give a toss about Thibaut's clean sheet record at Atleti, he will be judged on what he does in the blues uniform and Cech is obviously the proven candidate at this point.

Torres On a serious note. Cech is the outstanding candidate here. it's a no brainer really.

NO no no. We need to keep these youngsters wrapped in cotton wool. He's not ready to deal with the world class offensive Juggernauts like Anichebe,Altidore,kevin Doyle,Ameobi, Cisse et al next season. him performing well against lesser talents like Cavani/suarez (confeds cup), Drogba, Dzeko means nothing.

We could always move william to the centre and play Sanchez on the right but that will be too controversial for oscar's apologists.

In terms of poor technical ability and giving away possession , he's just as frustrating as they come however his positive outweighs his negative and there's room for him in the squad if he's willing to play second fiddle. We should accept him for what he is as he's never going to be a suarez for e.g. I blame those that scouted him and felt he's a right fit for the type of team we are building and also failed to take into account that the way 80 percent of teams we face set up against us renders Lukaku's attribute useless. If people are expecting his technical ability to improve past this point and turn into zlatan they might as well believe in santa claus and tooth fairy.

He holds on to the ball far too long, it's always being a feature of his game which works when he's on form but backfires when he's not. It upsets the flow and balance of the team offensively and makes it difficult for his teammates to get the ball in a dangerous positions to score from. That's the main reason why he's one of the most fouled players in Europe. He really needs to work on his decision making in that regard. knowing when a simple link up play and quick release is appropriate and when holding on to the ball is the right thing to do.

Defensively maybe but their offensive contributions fell off significantly as they aged because their legs could no longer keep up. We need Felipe Luis to contribute on both ends not just defensively. And it's funny how you lot keep mentioning fullback legends of the game to prove your point. they are legends for a reason. why not use someone of Felipe Luis class to buttress your point? perhaps because it had be like finding needle in a haystack.

How about them? There's a reason they, alongside Maldini,Zanetti et al are some of the greatest fullbacks of all time. They are the EXCEPTION rather than the rule.